[WikiEN-l] insist on sources

Thu Jul 20 08:04:48 UTC 2006

On 7/19/06, Stan Shebs <shebs at apple.com> wrote:
> Yeah, I've been working more in the science area these days, and
> not only does it tend to have fewer rabid partisans, but there is
> an ever-so-gradual influx of professional scientists for whom adding
> citations is as natural as breathing. (Not long ago, I narrowly saved
> myself from embarassment when I was about to disagree with an editor
> on a fine point, then realized he was the very author of the printed
> material open on my lap...)

Lol. I'm finding that sourcing can actually be fairly easy and fun. I
mostly contribute to tourism-type stuff. Example: I recently visited
Kilkenny Castle in Ireland. I took a couple of photos and bought a
copy of the Kilkenny Castle Visitor's Guide (80c for a single sheet of
cardboard - what a rip!) Then I added material to the article and
cited the Guide. Sure, it's not university-level citation, but it's a
hell of a lot better than nothing.

Or, in other cases, I just cite the web a lot. I think it's far more
useful to have information of dubious reliability where we have cited
a website of dubious reliability, than either a) no information at
all, or b) the same information of dubious reliability, unsourced.

Steve